Scope and Content of Collection

The collection assembled by James Evans reflects his own involvement in the mail art movement from 1970 to 1987, particularly in the 1980s. Included are approximately 280 mail art projects sent to or collected by Evans, as well as related ephemera, correspondence and publications. The mail artwork encompasses a variety of media, including postcards, books, drawings, photocopies, images made with rubber stamps, and postage stamps designed by artists.

Consistent with the international scope of the mail art movement, the Evans collection includes work by artists from numerous countries. A large portion of the collection consists of work by or about Italian artist Guglielmo Achille Cavellini and his long-term project of autostoricizzazione (self-historicization), a concept he devised in 1970 as an alternative to the mainstream art world's critical and marketing apparatus. Other significant contributors include American artists Laurence Angelo, Jerome D'Angelo, John Evans, Keith Glancy, and Lorenzo Post; Italian artist and musician Vittore Baroni; Japanese artists Ryosuke Cohen and Shōzō Shimamoto; Hungarian artists György Galántai and Júlia Klaniczay; Canadian artist Hokey Mokey; German artist Christoph Machart; and French artist Robert Morillo.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by last name with works by multiple artists and unidentified artists at the end, followed by assorted ephemera.